Proposal to transfer control of Chicopee Water Department to Department of Public Works delayed by Massachusetts legislator Joseph Wagner

CHICOPEE – State Rep. Joseph F. Wagner said he will delay acting on a request for a change in the state law governing the Water Department because of concerns over conflicts in legal interpretations.

For five years, Mayor Michael D. Bissonnette has been trying to put the mostly autonomous Water Department under the supervision of the Department of Public Works, saying it would be more efficient. Already the similarly run Wastewater Department falls under public works.

Recently, the City Council voted 12-1 to accept a change in the Acts of 1892 that created the Water Department. Members believed they preserved the authority of the Water Commission to set water rates, hear bill abatements and control the enterprise fund where all payments are deposited.

The change in the law was signed by Bissonnette and submitted to Wagner with the request that it be approved by the Legislature.

But Wagner said he has had four lawyers read the bill and they questioned if the changes do preserve the elements the City Council wanted.

Instead the modified law will allow anything, including the way rates are set, to be changed by ordinance.

“It says they (the City Council) can control all things subject to ordinance and through ordinance you can change anything related to the Water Department, and I think it is a slippery slope down which they do not want to go,” he said.

Wagner has requested a meeting with the City Council and Bissonnette to ensure it was the council’s intent to have it written in that way.

Bissonnette disagrees with Wagner’s interpretation. He said he has been working on the issue for years and has had at least three different staff lawyers examine it.

The change protects the current powers of the Water Commission, and the City Council cannot change that by adopting a new ordinance.

“This merger is going to go forward. Certainly it will be helpful if Mr. Wagner would embrace reform instead of blocking it,” Bissonnette said.

City Councilor James K. Tillotson, who is chairman of the ordinance committee and has been working on the proposal for years, said he believes there is some confusion over the issue and has called a meeting to discuss it.

“We want the commission to exist, set the rates and be responsible for the abatements and the enterprise fund,” he said.

Bissonnette and Wagner agree on one thing: the Water Department could join with Public Works without changing the law.

Wagner said he does not want to be that involved with the merger, but said he sees benefits to it. He also agreed with the proposal to have the mayor, instead of the Water Commission, approve all contracts. The mayor now approves other contracts for the city.

“I think the idea that the Water Department should be a function of the Department of Public Works is entirely appropriate. The last thing we want to have is unintended consequences,” Wagner said.